Poiana Pinului Training Camp & Half Marathon Brasov

I had my eyes for some time on the Half Marathon Brasov, since I first saw the announcement on the internet. Me and Daniel had a plan to run there and after that go to Moeciu to do some more kilometers on the tracks of EcoMarathon. But one month ago I recived a call from mister Galateanu (my ex club coach) who told me about some training camp days in Poiana Pinului.
I couldn`t say no so I decided to go there for orienteering training and on Saturday go to Brasov to run. The timing was perfect because Bogya Tamas also wanted to run there (ok ok..I had to convince him but in the end it was a good decision for him as he finished 3rd in his category). I knew the race would be very fast and I was thinking that I am ready for it. I started with a good pace but something didn`t feel right. When the climb started I knew what was going on. The same problems I had at Postavaru Night, the same numbness in my left leg, starting from the ankle and down my foot. I was stopping from time to time just maybe I could make it work but nothing made the numbness disappear. I got passed by a lot of runners and the only thought I had in my mind was that I will pass them on the downhill, where my orienteering experience would come in handy. On the downhill I didn`t feel as good as I would expect but still I pushed hard and passed some runners. In the end I pushed real hard after I passed Gabi Solomon. The finish was very fast for me because I gave it all my best to beat Gica Blajiu and so I did with a impressive sprint finish.
Overall I was 20th and in my category I was 11th. I have some mixed feelings after this race and i will try to see what when wrong so in the next races everything will go smooth.

Results

I need to congratulate all the orienteers that ran at Brasov: Bogya Tamas, Daniel Stroescu, Szep Zoltan, Petru Stupu, Alex Nimara & Anca Stupu.
It`s nice to see that orienteering provides good competitors for mountain races.

After Brasov,we went back to Poiana Pinului and on Sunday we did a long distance race/training with a very bad weather (wind and rain) and combined with my sore legs I did a very slow race with 2 big mistakes.

I don`t have all the maps for the moment but as soon as I will get them I will post them in my map archive.
 Happy Easter everybody and a wonderful spring !

First time in Hunedoara

Last weekend I was for the first time in Hunedoara, a nice city where we had the first stage in Parc National Champs and the Selection XC Race for the national team in orienteering. We all knew that we would run at Izvoru Muresului, like we did the last 2 years but the big snow in Izvoru Muresului made the organizers change the competition city.
The month of march for me was a curse for the last 3 years, and the selection race was always with big problems (2010 - food poisoning, 2011 - ankle sprain, 2012 - shin splints). This march wasn`t any better and I had to rest for about 3 weeks due to shin splints, but with a big miracle, one week before Hunedoara I could start running again but very slow.
As I was lacking intensity in training in the past weeks I knew that I don`t have any big chances in the sprint. I started the race a bit slower because I wanted to get very good contact with the map. I did 2 wrong route choice that costed me around 20 second and I also lost another 20 second when I fell down and hurt my knee on the asphalt.

I was 6th only 30 second away from the 3rd spot. Suciu Simion won the first stage and is in pole position to win the overall rank.
I wasn`t very sure about Sunday because I was lacking both running and uphill/downhill training in the last period. My plan was to run the long distance course - 12km (400m climb) - most of the senior class ran 6km (sprint) and 8km (middle distance).

 I started slower than most because I wanted to take time for my body, to see how it reacts to fast running again. I started pushing after the second lap and was passed a lot of people and also catched my friend Marian Ciprian (who I knew was running 12km, but he stopped at 8km). 

We were running together , each other leading for parts of the race. Meanwhile we were seeing the leading group going faster and faster (Suciu, Tamas, Szoby). After Marian Ciprian stopped I was alone and I started to feel the lack of training for a moment but I managed to push my body for the last 2 laps and finished for the first time in 3 years of running this race.

Results Sprint
Results XC Selection Race
Map Sprint